Container



April 8, 1969 w. J. RATHBUN 3,437,233

NNNNNNN ER Filed Oct. 25, 1967 Sheet of 2 IN VENTOR.

IF I WILLARD I RATHBUN I BY 94- M ATTORNEY.

April 8, 1969 w. J. RATHBUN CONTAINER Sheet 2 01 2 Filed Oct. 23, 1967 INVENTOR. WILLARD I RATH BUN ATTORN E Y.

United States Patent Office Patented Apr. 8, 1969 3,437,233 CONTAINER Willard .l. Rathbun, Castalia, Ohio, assignor to Foster Grant Co., Inc., Leominster, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 677,429 Int. Cl. B65d 21/02, 3/02 U.S. Cl. 22097 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates generally to containers and more specifically to molded plastic containers of the type resembling generally a frustocnical configuration having an open top end and sides which taper to a bottom of lesser diameter than the top. Such containers are commonly used in the packaging of foods such as cottage cheese, ice cream, etc., and may also conveniently be used for packaging certain other materials. The container may conveniently be made of a plastic material such as high impact polystyrene.

Containers of this type have been widely accepted to todays market and are presently used in great volume. Nestable containers having a variety of configurations and devices for holding the sidewalls of adjacent containers in spaced relation to prevent their wedging together have been developed. The present invention, however, is directed to a container having a novel combination lidreceiving and stacking portion which provides certain advantages which will be explained herein. It should be understood that although the container is referred to herein as having an open top end, it is adapted to receive a lid or closure after being filled, to close the top end.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a container having a simple and compact closure-receiving and stacking portion which positively supports adjacent containers in a manner such that their sidewalls are at least slightly spaced to prevent wedging. This allows a maximum amount of the outer surface of the container to be used for printing informative and decorative matter. It also provides a container which is pleasing in appearance.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a container in which the combination closure-receiving and stacking portion is free of sharp edges which inherently lead to stress concentration points which cause fracture or rupture of the container if it is deformed. Furthermore, such sharp edges are objectionable from a manufacturing standpoint because they are hard to mold, the molds are more costly, and the product is hard to remove from the mold.

A further object of this invention is to provide a container having a combination closure-receiving and stacking portion which utilizes a minimum amount of space, or axial length at the open top end of the container. Containers manufactured in accordance with this invention nest very compactly. Substantial savings in storage space, packaging and shipping may be realized by utilization of the present invention.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a container having a combination closure-receiving and stacking portion which is very strong and resistant to compression forces, but which at the same time, provides a stack of nested containers with a surprising amount of resiliency due to relative sliding between adjacent containers along stacking surfaces or supporting ledges where the adjacent containers are in contact with each other. Due to a unique and novel configuration and arrangement of these supporting ledges, axial compressive forces tend to cause slight radial expansion of an outer, or lower, container allowing the inner, or upper container in a nested stack to temporarily slide into a slightly closer position in relation to the outer or lower container. Due to resiliency of the plastic container material, the respective containers quickly return to their original position when the compression forces are released. In a stack of a substantial number of these containers a considerable amount of resiliency is demonstrated. Such resiliency tends to prevent jamming or rupture of containers in a stack when subjected to axial compressive forces.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a container in which a lid which is to be inserted in the open end of the container will be guided and easily placed in position to close the container.

To accomplish these and other objects the container of the present invention is provided at its top end with a combination closure-receiving and stacking portion which comprises in general an annular protrusion or groove of greater diameter than the adjacent sidewall portion. This groove has a lower side or wall which merges with the sidewall portion of the container and tapers inwardly at a predetermined angle relative to the longitudinal centerline or axis of the container to form a first supporting ledge. A second supporting ledge is provided above, or closer to the open top end of the container, which flares outwardly and upwardly at approximately the same angle relative to the axis as the first supporting ledge. Desirably, the upper side of the groove or protrusion and the second supporting ledge are separated and spaced apart by a generally cylindrical ring. The top of the container terminates in a rim portion. The first and second supporting ledges are within diametrical ranges sufficient to cause overlapping at least on part of their respective surfaces when two like containers are nested.

These and other objects and features of this invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation view of a container constructed in accordance with my invention.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the container shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary axial section view on an enlarged scale showing the top portion of a container constructed in accordance with my invention.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary axial section view similar to FIGURE 3, but showing a pair of containers constructed in accordance with my invention stacked in nested relation.

Referring to the drawings, a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated. For purposes of describing the invention the container is divided into three portions-- a bottom portion, a sidewall portion, and a combination closure-receiving and stacking portion located at the top of the sidewall portion.

Considering first FIGURES 1 through 3, a container is illustrated having a bottom portion 10 connected to a sidewall portion 12 which flares upwardly and outwardly towards an open top end of the container, generally designated as 14. The open top is adapted to receive a lid (not shown) for temporarily closing the container. Normally, the containers are packaged for shipping and storage in nested condition prior to being filled.

The sidewall portion 12 is generally in the shape of a truncated cone and symmetrical about a longitudinal axis 16. Near the open top of the container and above the portion herein referred to or the sidewall portion 12 is a combination closure-receiving and stacking portion 18, which may continue in a generally upwardly and outwardly flaring direction. This combination closure-receiving and stacking portion 18 contains several sections of various configurations which together make up the novel portion of my container. The portion 18 is all integral, and is also preferably integral with sidewall portion 12. It is also generally symmetrical with the longitudinal axis 16 of the container and of appreciable axial length.

The lowermost section of portion 18, i.e., that adjacent the sidewall 12, is in the form of a peripheral, annular protrusion or groove which includes closure receiving portion 20, supporting ledge 22 and connecting means 24. The protrusion is of greater diameter than that of the container sidewall 12 below it.

As will be apparent from the drawing, neither the protrusion nor any other part of the portion 18 contains sharp corners or crevices which would catch and hold any matter stored in the container. Furthermore, it is desirable from a strength standpoint that no sharp corners occur in the configuration of the portion 18 which might cause stress concentration points, and consequently cracking or rupturing should the open end of the container be deformed.

The bottom side 22 of the protrusion, i.e., that connecting it with sidewall 12, tapers inwardly towards axis 16 and bottom portion 10. This bottom side 22 is actually a cone frustum of small height relative to the height of sidewall 12 and conveniently forms a supporting ledge for an adjacent nested container. The bottom side 22 is a substantially smooth surface, as viewed in the section of FIGURES 3 and 4, and is at an angle to sidewall 12. The frustoconical side 22 is disposed at an angle 12 relative to the axis 16 of between 35 and 55. The preferable range of angle b is between 40 and 50, and most desirably about 45, which will be explained hereinafter in greater detail.

Directly above and integral with the upper side or connecting means 24 of the protrusion there is preferably provided a cylindrical ring 26 bounded by circumferential lines 25 and 27. Ring 26 is generally parallel to axis 16. By the term generally parallel, it is intended that the ring 26 be generally parallel to the axis 16, and minor deviations from a parallel disposition are within the scope of this meaning. It is preferable that, if ring 26 tapers or flares at all, that the taper be in an upward and outward direction toward the open end 14 rather than inwardly toward the open bottom portion 10. Ring 26 is of a diameter less than that of closure-receiving portion 20 and greater than the diameter of the largest part of sidewall 12. While the preferred embodiment of the invention is described herein which includes cylindrical ring 26, it is also contemplated that in some forms of the invention and under certain circumstances ring 26 may not be needed. In such cases, circumferential line 27 would coincide with circumferential line 25.

Ring 26 is bounded on its upper side, or in other words, the side closest the open top end 14, and by a supporting ledge 28 which flares outwardly towards open end 14. This supporting ledge 28 is similar to supporting ledge 22 in that it is actually a cone frustum of small height relative to the height of sidewall 12. It is also a substantially smooth surface when viewed in the sections of FIGURES 3 and 4. Ledge 28 is disposed at an angle a relative to the axis 16 of the container of between 35 and 55, the preferable range being 40 to 50 and 45 being most desirable. Angle a and angle b are approximately the same in like containers.

Supporting ledge 28 is bounded on its upper side, at

the open end of the container by a rim 30 having a curled lip 32 integral therewith. The lip 32 of rim 30 may overlap supporting ledge 28. The diameter of rim 30 is greater than the diameter of the closure receiving portion 20, to allow such portion of an adjacent nested container to pass, allowing supporting ledge 22 of one container to rest in intimate contact with supporting ledge 28 of another container, as shown in FIGURE 4. The diametrical extent of ledge 28 must overlap at least a portion of the diametrical extent of ledge 22 for adjacent containers to nest and be supported in relation to each other by the respective supporting ledges of each.

It will be noted from the drawings that a plurality of circumferentially spaced, generally vertical protrusions or ribs 34 are provided in cylindrical ring 26. These protrusions serve a dual purpose in strengthening the closurereceiving and stacking portion 18, so that any vertical resiliency in a single container that might otherwise be present is greatly reduced, and also, providing for venting of the container during application of a closure and for allowing gases to escape if any are generated by the contents during storage.

Referring now to FIGURE 4, upper container 36 is stacked inside lower container 38, and the respective sidewall portions 12 and 12 are supported such that there is a space 42 therebetween. Also, the bottom portions are held in spaced relationship. This is due to ledge 22 of container 36 resting upon supporting ledge 28 of lower container 38 along an area of intimate contact generally designated 40. This area is, of course, formed by frustoconical supporting ledges 28 and 22 due to the aforesaid overlapping of the diametrical extents thereof. FIGURE 4 illustrates this area 40 as a generally straight line in cross section, but of course, this area extends substantially circumferentially between the two containers 36 and 38.

When these supporting ledges 28 and 22' are at approximately the same angle and are disposed relative to axis 16 within the limits given above for angles a and b, and nested containers are compressed in an axial direction, an appreciable amount of give or resiliency is present due to the sliding of adjacent containers along the area 40. Considering two nested containers as shown in FIGURE 4, axial compression of the two containers causes the container 38 to radially expand to allow ledge 22 of container 36 to slide along its ledge 28, causing a slightly tighter or closer nesting of containers 36 and 38. Due to the resiliency of the material, when compression is released, the containers 36 and 38 will spring apart to their original position. The area 40 should be large enough so that under no circumstances closure-receiving portion 20 of container 36 slides past cylindrical ring 26 of container 38.

Angles a and b of the supporting ledges 22 and 28 have been described herein in relation to the vertical or longitudinal axis 16 of the container. It should be understood that these angles are measured, as indicated in FIGURE 3, in a cross-sectional plane extending through axis 16, by extension lines through each ledge intersecting the axis of thecontainer.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials, steps and arrangements of parts, which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention.

I claim: 7

1. A one piece, thin wall plastic container having a bottom portion, an upwardly and outwardly flaring sidewall portion connected with said bottom portion, and a combination closure-receiving and stacking portion of appreciable axial length at the open top end of said container and generally symmetrical about the longitudinal axis of the container, said closure-receiving and stacking portion comprising:

(a) a first frustoconical supporting ledge tapering up- 5 wardly and outwardly from said sidewall at an angle of between 35 and 55 relative to the axis of the container,

(b) a closure-receiving portion extending upwardly and merging from said first ledge,

(c) connecting means merging from said closure-receiving portion,

(d) a generally cylindrical ring merging from said connecting means, said ring having a smaller diameter than the largest diameter of said closure-receiving portion and a larger diameter than any portion of the side wall below said first ledge,

(e) a second supporting ledge integrally connected with the top of said generally cylindrical ring and having an upward and outward taper of approximately the same angle relative to the axis of the container as that of said first supporting ledge,

(f) a rim merging from said second supporting ledge having a diameter greater than the diameter of said closure-receiving portion,

(g) said first and second supporting ledges being within diametrical ranges sufiicient to cause overlapping at least on part of their respective surfaces whereby References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 795,437 7/ 1905 Gender. 3,094,240 6/ 1963 Wandere. 3,157,335 11/1964 Maier. 3,173,571 3/1965 Cserny 22044 3,347,411 10/1967 Kalata.

GEORGE E. LOWRANCE, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 229-1.5 

